


A Superior Land

by Copperfur



Category: Fairy Tail, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Blow to the head, Canon-Typical Violence, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, F/M, Referenced past theft, Stalker-like behaviour, Swearing, criminal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2018-09-16
Packaged: 2019-07-02 17:12:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15801000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Copperfur/pseuds/Copperfur
Summary: The far-off region of Akito holds promise for adventure and excitement. But danger is never far away. It's up to two unlikely heroes - a Pokémon thief and failing Dragon Tamer - to rise to the challenge and defend the future of the region. Co-write with Mandriel of Lake Valor, RP-style.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Tribute fic of Mega Adventure, a Pokémon fan game.

30,000 feet above the ground of the Hoenn region, a commercial plane was flying high in the sky. This airplane was a small aircraft as it carried only passengers and their cargo. The plane model was an Airbus 340; it consisted of a primary white and blue colour on its exterior with a Metagross decal decked on the back of the plane to signal the plane belonged to Metagross Airlines.

Flight number 4583 was currently on a trip from Hoenn to the far away region of Akito, currently transporting mostly upcoming trainers going there to challenge the new League that had opened up.

The flight has been in the air for about an hour and everything has been running smooth so far. People who weren't chatting amongst themselves were either sleeping or looking out what available window seats there were. Inside the cockpit, the two pilots were maintaining control over the plane, just like they had done for years. They were experts in this field, hence why they were able to maintain such a big plane.

"Attention folks, this is your captain speaking. Flight number 4583 has just left Hoenn airspace. This flight from Lilycove City, Hoenn to Okimira Town, Akito, is still another three hours away from landing. So please make yourself comfortable and we'll be arriving in Okimira at 10 AM, Akitoian time. That is all." The captain put down his microphone to the plane's speakers and sighed as he got back to his duties to help maintain flight number 4583.

One passenger slightly annoyed by how long it would take to arrive was one fifteen-year-old Kayla Watanabe. Born and raised in Hoenn's Lavaridge Town, her parents had informed her they had pre-bought a house in Okimira and promptly sent her off on her own. She was expected to walk peoples' Pokémon in order to fund the rent that would make its way into her parents' pocket.

They hadn't told her she would be arriving at the start of League season. The other passengers were talking about the new region, but Kayla couldn't hear what was being discussed as she listened to the music on her headphones.

* * *

A shadow flitted across Okimira Town and a large Flygon descended from the sky, gusts of wind from its powerful wings tearing at the leaves on surrounding trees. The heads of every passerby turned in awe as its trainer - a tall, well-muscled young man with a handsome smile - leaped down from the Flygon's saddle, his royal purple cape fluttering as he landed. He surveyed the town, memories of his own Pokémon journey flooding back to him. Had it really been almost a decade since he'd set out from Okimira Town with nothing but a Trapinch? Time had flown so fast and it was now his little brother's turn to embark on his own journey. The dragon tamer had been eager to deliver him to this town and watch him take his first steps.

And speaking of his brother…

"Arach?" He called, turning back to his Flygon. The boy was still clinging onto its back, having not budged an inch since they'd landed. "Are you coming or not?"

Ara kept his eyes fixed straight ahead, refusing to look down at the ground. His fingers gripped onto his saddle so hard that his knuckles had turned white. "I can't get down," he mumbled.

An involuntary groan rose from the dragon tamer's throat. He should have seen this coming. "Just jump, you'll be fine."

"Ryu!"

Ryu rolled his eyes and held out his arms. "Come on, I'll catch you." Out of the corner of his eye, he could see people stopping and staring, this time out of amusement rather than awe. He could feel his face flush, but he kept his expression stoic. "Come on Ara, everybody's watching."

After what felt like years, Ara let go of the saddle, almost slipping from the Flyon's back. He shrieked, wrapping his arms around the Pokémon's neck, much to its discontent. He closed his eyes and let go, slamming into Ryu and knocking the two of them to the ground. Ryu groaned again as peals of laughter erupted from their onlookers; they were not off to a good start.

* * *

Three hours after the first announcement over the speakers, flight 4583 landed at last at the airport on the outskirts of Okimira Town. Passengers were told they would have to catch public transport to make it into Okimira itself and the only form of transport that ran from the airport to the town were taxis.

Needless to say, Kayla's irritation grew even more when she learned this. Her parents were supposed to have told her everything they knew about the region, but they hadn't. Why were they keeping her in the dark? She didn't like not knowing about the region.

Regardless of being "information blind", she booked a taxi and studied her surroundings as the driver drove her into Okimira Town. The cab stopped at the edge of the western entrance to the town and Kayla paid the fee. Disoriented, Kayla whirled around after hopping out of the vehicle, trying to see what was what.

There were younger children playing at the southern exit to Route 1; she guessed that was where beginning trainers headed to after they had received their first Pokémon and went off on their journey.

Kayla aimed to be a strong trainer who challenged the League. She wanted to be there up amongst the best and most powerful of the Elite trainers. In fact, she aimed for the highest honour of all – she wanted to be the Champion. Getting there would require strategy and strength, both of which she believed she had.

Proving it was different.

Kayla was still watching the kids at the southern exit, when she heard an excited laugh and a boy rushed past, his Popplio running with him.

"Ash, wait!" A voice cried, an elderly man coming out of a building. The boy was already at the exit of the town, unresponsive. The researcher sighed. "Ash is always the same every League, no matter what region he's in."

Kayla's eyes widened at the mention of the League season and she felt a flash of jealousy at her parents.  _Again!_  She swore mentally, making a quick decision to steal a Pokémon's Poké Ball. Sneaking in to pinch the Poké Ball with the flame insignia, she grit her teeth as the Professor caught a glimpse of her red hair as she fled.

* * *

"Are you sure you've got everything?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"You  _guess_? But are you  _certain_?"

Ara squirmed under Ryu's scrutinising gaze, fingers toying with the woven bracelets wrapped around his wrists. "Yeah, I'm pretty certain I've got everything I need." They'd already had this exact conversation three times that day. Ara couldn't tell if his brother was just concerned about him or if he thought he was downright stupid.

Ryu pinched the bridge of his nose. "This journey marks your coming of age; please take it seriously. Your elders won't like it if you have to be picked up at Route 2 because you forgot something important. Have you got your phone?" Ara nodded. "Medical kit?" Nod. "Emergency money?" Nod. "Spare Poké Balls?" Nod. "Wyvern?"

Ara felt his mouth go dry. His hand drifted to his Jangmo-o's Poké Ball that was clipped to his waist and he nodded. Ryu didn't appear to catch sight of the look of discomfort that crossed his younger brother's face as he carried on.

"You have your trainer card?" Nod. "Badge case?" Nod. "Spare clothes?" Nod. Ryu hesitated for a moment, still not appearing satisfied with Ara's answers. He turned back to his Flygon. "Well, I guess that's- Hold up!" He suddenly remembered something, spinning back around to face Ara with his hand outstretched. "Repels." Ara nodded, causing Ryu to frown. "No; I mean, give me your repels."

If it was possible, Ara felt his mouth go even drier. "Wh-what?"

"The aim of a Pokémon journey is to get stronger." Ryu said in a babying voice, causing Ara's face to blush in shame. "And you can't get stronger if you spray every wild Pokémon you see. How are you supposed to be able to catch anything when you smell like repel? We're expecting you to come home with a full team of dragons." Unable to meet his judging eyes, Ara gave in and swung his backpack off his shoulders, unzipped it and dropped two cans of repel into Ryu's hands. "I want all of them." He handed over another one. "Is this all?"

"Yes." Ara lied. Ryu gave him a hard look and he handed over another. "Ok, that's the last one. I mean it this time." His brother didn't pursue the topic further, almost making him sigh in relief. He still had another three repels lying undetected at the bottom of his bag.

Ryu was silent for a moment, mentally checking a list of everything he felt the need to cover before Ara departed. "I suppose that's everything. I'll head back home now, but if anything comes up, don't hesitate to give me a call, 'kay?" He flashed him a grin. "I know that you're not supposed to get outside help on this quest, but I'm fine with bending the rules for my little bro."

"'Kay." Ara echoed glumly. He really didn't blame Ryu for thinking that lowly of him, but it still hurt to be reminded that everybody expected him to fail. He watched his brother leave, eyes fixed on the sky until his Flygon was nothing but a green speck in the distance.

He let out a shaky sigh. This was it. His Pokémon journey had just begun. His family was expecting him to conquer every one of Akito's Gyms and build his team of dragons, like they all did before him. He couldn't afford to fail.

"Thief!" A voice broke through his thoughts. An old man in a lab coat came bursting out of a building, pointing down Route 1. The tall grass was still shaking, as if somebody had just run through it. He caught sight of Ara and shouted: "A girl with red hair! She's taken my Litten!"

Without a second thought, Ara took off in the direction that the thief had disappeared.

* * *

Laughing throatily to herself, Kayla fished out the Pokédex from her pocket, that had been casually lying on the table beside the Poké Ball. Staring at it in awe, she was surprised when the Poké Ball opened on its own and a Fire type emerged. No sooner than she had gazed at it, the fire cat leaped at her and bit the hand she shielded herself with.

"Ow, jeezus." Kayla swore, putting the electronic computer back in her other pocket and grabbed the Litten's nape. The Litten growled, sinking its fangs deeper into her flesh. "!" Kayla grimaced and tried harder to remove the Fire type from her hand. "Didn't realize you were a biter, damn thing. Get off!"

Then, Kayla's senses alerted her to the fact someone was tracking her and she hastily picked up Litten's ball. "You're obviously not a ninja, I know you're there. If you don't mind, stop stalking me." Regardless of her warning to whoever was following her, she decided to press on, even if Litten was still biting her.

Litten just growled at her again. "Sshh!" She hissed at it, prompting it to flatten its ears in disapproval. Kayla sighed.  _Not the best start_.

* * *

Ara blundered through the undergrowth, stumbling to a halt right before he could slam face-first into a tree. He strained his ears to listen for the pitter patter of thieving feet escaping. What kind of horrible thug would steal from an old man? He'd heard stories about poachers stealing rare Pokémon to sell at high prices. Was that the kind of person he was dealing with?

In the distance, he could hear the sounds of new trainers battling, Starly twittering in the trees and... pained cussing?


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for rough handlings of Pokémon and phobia of Fairy types.

He headed toward the noise and caught sight of a flash of red hair. He burst through the foliage, causing the girl who was trying to pry the Litten from her hand to look up in surprise. She opened her mouth to say something, but Ara didn't give the criminal a chance to make a sound.

"Wyvern, use Draco Meteor!" He commanded, hurling his Jangmo-o's Poké Ball into the air. The ball split open and the dragon emerged in a flash of red light, sharp teeth and claws glinting in the sunlight.

Without showing any indication that she'd even heard her trainer, she curled up on the grassy ground and pointedly turned her back on him. In the confused silence that followed, Ara buried his face in his hands in an attempt to hide the red blush that was spreading across his face.

* * *

"Tch." Kayla scorned the boy. "A Dragon Tamer and your Dragon won't listen to you? What a joke. You do something to make your Dragon dislike you?" Her fingers dug into Litten's neck a bit harder and she was finally able to pull the spitfire off of her hand. "I'll recall you if you're not gonna be nice." Kayla warned the Fire type who was her starter. Litten merely hissed back.

In response, Kayla retrieved the ball and returned her starter, exactly as she had told it. She placed the ball in her rucksack and half turned away from the other trainer. "I'd advise not following me if you don't want there to be trouble. But knowing you, you'll follow anyway. So… I'll only say it once. Make me repeat myself and, well… there will be trouble. Don't stalk me."

Kayla set off, scoffing under her breath at the shocked and intimidated expression on the boy. "Hmm, wonder what my first capture should be?" She pondered as she increased the distance between her and the Dragon Tamer.

* * *

The sound of her footsteps faded and Ara cast his Pokémon a hopeless glance. "Wyvern..." He swore he could see the corner of her mouth twitch upwards in a nasty smirk and he buried his face in his hands again. He had an unpleasant feeling she was enjoying every second she watched him fail.

He crouched beside the Jangmo-o and she cracked open a scarlet eye to glare at him. He cringed and shuffled back a little in case she tried to bite him and cleared his throat. "So... Uh..." He hesitated. "L-look, I get that you don't like me too much, b-but..." He tried a shy smile. "Maybe we... We could reach some kind of compromise?"

Wyvern leapt to her feet, snarling. Ara shrieked and fell backward, slamming into the ground hard and having the wind knocked out of him. As he struggled to suck air back into his lungs, he could hear Wyvern's scratchy laughter. He groaned and stared up at the sky, doing his best to blink away the oncoming flood of tears that was threatening to spill from behind his eyes. The girl was right; he was a joke. How was he supposed to capture and lead a team of dragons when his only partner refused to listen to a word he said?

Something rustled in the nearby grass and Wyvern was on her feet once more, scales clanging defensively. In an instant, Ara was sitting bolt upright, pulse racing. Not many things scared Wyvern, but the one thing that did just so happened to also be Ara's greatest fear. They held their breath as the creature emerged from its hiding place.

Instant panic flashed through Ara. He grabbed a hold of Wyvern. She was too terrified to protest. Without thinking of how he might look like to other trainers, he sprinted down the route, screaming like a maniac.

The Igglybuff blinked its large eyes in confusion before waddling back into the undergrowth.

* * *

Kayla walked further along Route 1, surprised to see the boy from earlier, Ash, releasing his Popplio. It looked like he had a new Water type in his team, but she felt bad for the abandoned Pokémon. Her final team had no room for its final evolution, however, so she reluctantly kept going. Gritting her teeth at the Pokémon's anguish was harder than she realized and it tore her up inside.

Just before she entered the Corrda Forest, she saw two random female trainers standing off to the side. They were going crazy over some guy called Gray Fullbuster. "Um… excuse me," Kayla began, wanting to know what was so good about some guy. "Who is this Gray Fullbuster?"

One turned to her with wide eyes, as if she didn't believe what she was hearing. "Seriously? You don't know Gray Fullbuster?" She sounded scandalized. "He's like… the best Champion any region's ever had."

"Yeah." Her friend added. "He's got a full team of Ice Pokémon. No one yet has beaten him."

The first girl waved her hand flippantly. "And… he's a stripper!" Both girls descended into giggles at this comment.

Kayla just rolled her eyes at their immaturity, but was intrigued nonetheless.

* * *

Ara dropped down from the tree, failing to properly land on his feet and landing on his face instead. He scrambled to his feet, glancing around to make sure that the Igglybuff was gone and sighed in relief when he found it was nowhere in sight. His heart was still pounding from the experience, though. Even though the wild Pokémon was still young and relatively weak, it sent shivers down his spine just thinking of its large soulless eyes and destructively super-effective typing.

Ready to continue his pursuit of the Litten's thief, he returned Wyvern to her Poké Ball, figuring that he might come off as slightly more intimidating if his disobedient Pokémon was out of sight. Or at least, as intimidating as a short, mildly chubby fourteen-year-old could look.

"Hey there! Wanna battle?" Ara almost jumped out of his skin as a young boy in a red cap materialised beside him, a Pikachu sitting on his shoulder, its tail wagging in anticipation for said battle.

"N-no, sorry, I don't have any Pokémon." It had always made Ara feel bad to lie, but he knew a battle would result in nothing but humiliation for him.

The boy's smile melted into a look of confusion. "You're holding a Poké Ball." He pointed out and Ara awkwardly hid it behind his back. The boy quickly added: "Which, you know, is fine. We don't need to fight. I just thought... Well, you know-"

"I-I'm actually looking for someone." Ara told him, cutting in before the conversation could get any more awkward. "She's kind of tall, athletic-looking, has bright red hair..." His eyes fell on a figure standing with two other girls by the entrance of Corrda Forest. "Never mind, found her."

* * *

Kayla grimaced as she heard the boy's voice and turned to look at him, giving a death stare. "I'm gonna get-" She tried to speak, but one of the fangirls cut her off, making her frown.

"I have an idea. Why don't you there..." She pointed to Ara and Ash. "… Battle each other. And one of us will battle her. And if she wins, she'll get 5 Poké Balls."

It didn't even take Kayla a second to think about it. If she was getting free Poké Balls for winning, then she was so in. "Agreed."

Ash hesitated. "But he..."

* * *

The thought of having an even larger audience to watch him attempt to battle made a nervous sweat trickle down Ara's neck and he opened his mouth to refuse, but then reconsidered when an idea come to him. Maybe he could use this to his advantage…

"I'll battle you." He told Ash as he unclipped Wyvern's Poké Ball from his belt. He let out the little dragon and fixed her with what he thought was a stern look. "Okay Wyvern, you're going to listen to me, and we're going to win this. Do you understand?" Wyvern hissed and he flinched, causing one of the fangirls to giggle.

He turned back to Kayla, forcing his voice to remain steady under her suspicious gaze. "If I lose, I'll leave you alone." He drew in a deep breath, forcing his own eyes to meet hers. "But if you lose your own battle, y-you're gonna have to return the Litten you stole."

* * *

"Me? Lose? Not a chance. You're on, by the way." Kayla was confident in her battling ability and taming her Litten shouldn't be too hard. She took out the ball from her rucksack and held it up. "You're about to enter a battle, Rath. I'd prefer if you win, because I don't intend to lose."

Kayla let her Pokémon out of the Poké Ball. Rath the Litten turned and hissed at his trainer, before refocusing on the opposition. Kayla watched intently as the fangirl called out her own Pokémon, a Starly.

The fangirl started things off by ordering Starly to use Tackle. Rath easily dodged the low aerial attack and responded by scratching the bird. Starly shrieked in alarm and collided with a tree, but wasn't completely out of the picture yet. It retaliated with Growl, but Rath's nature caused him to shrug it off.

Starting to get bored, Rath decided to 'go in for the kill' and finish Starly off. He performed another scratch and bit the bird Pokémon, causing it to faint.

* * *

There was an awkward pause from Ara as all heads turned to him. Well, it was a little too late to go back on his deal. Not that he'd intended to break it, but he'd been hoping that Rath would have been a little more resistant to Kayla's authority. Looking back, perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to wager everything on a maybe.

"O-okay. Wyvern, are you ready?" He looked down at his Pokémon, who was giving him a smug look. That probably wasn't a good sign. He turned to Ash. "R-right, l-let's go!"

Pikachu hopped down from Ash's shoulder and, at his trainer's command, he launched a Thundershock attack at Wyvern.

"Counter it with Draco Meteor!" Ara shouted. Wyvern turned her head to shoot him a dirty look, only to get zapped by her opponent. She snarled and charged at him, trying to land a less effective Tackle. "Draco Meteor!" She wasn't listening. Ash's Pikachu was faster than her, dodging her clumsy attacks and sending yellow sparks in her direction when she was off-balance. Even though Electric type attacks weren't very effective against her thick hide, she was losing health fast.

Ara groaned and looked away, unable to stand staring at the scene much longer. The look on Ash's face was downright apologetic as his Pokémon zapped Wyvern again. A flash of light drew Ara's eyes back to his Pokémon. A coloured stone wrapped in a glowing aura appeared above her head and she readied herself to hurl the Draco Meteor at Pikachu. But the electric Pokémon sent one last bolt of lightning at her and the attack dissipated as her legs gave out beneath her.

* * *

The fangirl fulfilled her part of the deal and presented Kayla with five Poké Balls, after returning her fainted Starly. She would heal her partner after Kayla and the boy left, giving her fellow fangirl an approving wink. Their plan to help Kayla win had succeeded, but how would her opposition react?

"You're a good kid," Kayla began, surprising Ara. The redhead could see he hadn't been expecting to hear praise from a thief. "No, really." She paused and asked for Ara's Xtransceiver number. "In case I need to warn you about something. I'm sure I'll run into the evil team of this region sooner or later."

Kayla got a reluctant sigh in response, but she heard a text come through on her own Xtransceiver. The fangirls didn't have any such call device. "Thank you."

Kayla started walking off, intending on heading through the Corrda Forest. She aimed to capture a Nidoran male.


	3. Chapter 3

A quick trip to the Pokémon Centre restored Wyvern back to full health. Ara made his way back to the outskirts of the forest, where he noted that Kayla, Ash and the fangirls had gone their separate ways. The fact that he didn't have to face them made him feel incredibly relieved; he'd had enough embarrassment for one day.

The forest was quieter than Route 1, as most starter trainers preferred to battle closer to a Pokémon Centre that they could quickly run back to in case they found themselves in trouble. Ara was slightly concerned about running into Kayla as he didn't want to give her the impression that he was breaking their agreement, but he figured that if he lay low, he should be able to avoid her just fine.

He let Wyvern out of her Poké Ball. "You, uh... You fought well back there." She didn't look as if she believed him at all. "No, really! I'm pretty sure that was the first time I'd ever seen you actually try and use Draco Meteor." Even though it was only after she'd gotten beaten up by Ash's Pikachu. But he figured it probably wasn't in his best interests to add that.

He began to reach into his bag for a repel, but decided against it. It would be a better idea to save them for an emergency. Plus, Wyvern could handle most wild Pokémon, provided they weren't a Fairy type. And it actually seemed as if she was willing to listen to Ara's commands. At least, for the time being.

With his spirits somewhat lifted by this thought, he set foot inside the Corrda Forest.

* * *

Kayla was quite pleased with herself; she had captured her first Pokémon, a male Nidoran. She called him out of his ball and selected a Potion from her rucksack to heal him with. "Hey buddy, this might hurt a little. But hang in there, please?"

The little rodent flinched as he felt the first spray of the Potion, but quickly realized the pain vanished as soon as it had been there. Nidoran blinked, feeling better like Rath had never wounded him.

Kayla turned to her newest capture and kneeled down to his level. "What do you think of the nickname "Balmung"?"

* * *

The young trainer huffed in indignation as she returned her Pidgey back to its ball and Ara found the beginnings of a smile curling the corner of his mouth. Despite Wyvern's stubborn resistance, he was beginning to believe he may have been making some progress with her. Though most of the time, he had a feeling that she was following orders more because she didn't want to get beaten up by the opposing Pokémon again rather out of respect to her trainer.

His smile instantly melted away as the other trainer sent out a Cottonee. The puffball of doom set its sights on Wyvern and Ara could see her legs begin to tremble. His hands shook. "I n-need to g-go." He stuttered, grabbing Wyvern's Poké Ball before the Cottonee could deliver an attack.

The trainer quirked an eyebrow. "What are you talking about? Don't tell me you're bailing now just because you have a type advantage!" Ara tried to respond, but the words felt stuck in his throat. He tore his eyes away from the fairy and stumbled down the path, legs feeling like jelly. The trainer gave chase and he broke into a sprint.

Once he'd put enough distance between himself and the Cottonee, he collapsed at the base of a tree. It took a long time for his racing heart to finally slow down.

* * *

As soon as Balmung noticed Rath after coming out of his ball, the little purple rodent chittered at the feline angrily. The cat, at first, responded with a lazy stare, thinking nothing of his team-mate's indignation. But when Balmung pushed past Kayla's hand and struck Rath with a Peck, the Litten's attitude changed altogether.

Rath hissed menacingly and spat an oily fireball from his mouth. The Nidoran screamed as the projectile burned his short fur. He managed to shake off the pain, despite wincing as he ran towards Rath, tiny horn straight out.

Kayla's eyes widened; the intent was clear, he wanted to poison Rath. She tried to stop her two partners from fighting, but a Taillow flew in front of her, as if it meant to impede her progress. The redhead swore in a panic, she didn't want her Pokémon fighting like this. Why were they even fighting? She didn't get what had went wrong in those few seconds she had looked away.

A Pidgeotto must have heard the racket and flew in to see what was going on. When it saw the fight, it decided to join in, because why not?

Kayla groaned, before sighing. This was going to be a long trip through the forest.

* * *

"Come on, Tackle!" Wyvern turned her back on him, ignoring the wild Pidgey that was pecking at the ground a few metres away. Ara breathed a sigh of frustration. "Tackle!" He repeated. For a little while, he'd actually thought that his Pokémon was going to start obeying him, but whatever progress they'd begun to make appeared to have been short-lived.

Perhaps seeing the Cottonee had reminded Wyvern why she hated Ara so much in the first place.

He flopped back down onto the ground with a sigh as the Pidgey fluttered away. This was hopeless. There had to be some other way to get Wyvern to listen to him, but how? She didn't respect him, that was for sure. But how was he supposed to earn a Dragon's respect when he was fumbling alongside low-levelled Pokémon and weak starting trainers?

For a moment, he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end and his stomach twisted. He leapt to his feet, his skin feeling the prickling gaze of eyes peering through the undergrowth at him. He scanned his surroundings, but found nothing but branches rustling gently in the light breeze. The Pidgey from earlier swept past, making him scream as it landed nearby.

He almost groaned aloud as he sat back down. His natural jumpiness was not going to make this quest easy. Ara recalled Wyvern back to her ball before he continued onwards through the forest, the unsettling feeling that he was being watched following him every step of the way.

* * *

Kayla had managed to strike the Pidgeotto with a branch, making the bird pissed at her. It attempted to attack her in retaliation for being hit, but another whack sent it packing. Sighing in relief, Kayla turned and frowned down at her Pokémon.

"Honestly, what am I gonna do with you two?"

Rath's top lip simply twitched, his teeth showing. Balmung had returned to his ball, still feeling irritated from Rath's earlier slight. Kayla groaned under her breath and picked the Litten up; he was getting to be a stuck-up little brat who needed to be put in his place.

* * *

Ara tried to get Wyvern to battle a few more wild Pokémon to varying degrees of success. She refused to listen to him at all until the Rattata she was supposed to be fighting bit her on the nose. She then unleashed her rage at the small rodent, knocking it out and proudly standing over its unconscious body. At this rate, the only way Ara appeared to be able to train her was by provoking a reaction out of her to motivate her to battle.

It was only when he was reflecting on how he could train her that he realized he'd completely forgotten to receive his Pokédex. He groaned aloud. He'd gotten so caught up in the Pokémon thief and his own problems that he'd neglected the very first steps of his journey. Great. Just great. If Ryu could have seen Ara at that very moment, his brother would have been shaking his head in disappointment.

Somewhere nearby, a twig snapped. Ara forced his racing heart to slow down. It was just a wild Pokémon. Or maybe a kid out training their starter. Either way, there was no danger. No harm could come to him…

A high-pitched shriek sliced through the forest. Wild bird Pokémon fluttered from their roosts and Ara almost tumbled to the ground. Any previous thoughts he had on his own safety was shattered. Something was terribly wrong.

* * *

Throwing the bloodied branch to the ground, Kayla froze when she heard the shriek. Though her parents had made her out to be uneducated in all things Pokémon, she was far smarter than she let on. Like Ara elsewhere in the forest, Kayla knew something terrible was happening. She swore under her breath and recalled Rath to his own ball.

Kayla needed her arms free to run properly and she took off towards whoever had made the noise, hoping she wouldn't be too late to save them. "… Why can't people not get into trouble?" Kayla muttered quietly.

She'd arrived.

And there was a situation in front of her. A beginner trainer, younger than her, had apparently selected the Rowlet.  _Good for them_ , she thought.

What wasn't good was that the kid had been confronted by what appeared to be the evil team of this region. Two Gible stood in front of the new trainer and their Rowlet, maws open as they hissed menacingly in an attempt to frighten them.

The Dragon types seemed to be doing a good job so far. However, Kayla frowned when she noticed the child and their starter were bleeding. She couldn't tell how bad it was, but she knew it had to be treated as soon as possible or bacteria would get in there.

* * *

Branches slapped Ara in the face as he dashed blindly toward the direction of the scream. In hindsight, it probably wasn't in his best interests to charge straight toward the sound of somebody in distress, but he didn't stop to consider the consequences of his actions.

He burst into a clearing in the trees, tripping over a clump of ferns and landing ungracefully on his face before a pair of grunts and their Gible. His sudden appearance struck them by surprise and, for a moment, they were too shocked to command their Pokémon to keep beating up the poor trainer they were harassing.

Ara didn't wait for them to recover. He stumbled to his feet, wheezing as he reached for Wyvern's ball when his eyes fell on Kayla, the red-haired Pokémon thief. "You!" He gasped.

* * *

Kayla watched the failing Dragon Tamer from the corner of her eye. She was not impressed he had broken his promise, but she stopped and realized that he must have heard the pained shriek too.

The harassed trainer cried for help again and cowered with their arms over their head when one grunt kicked out at them to quieten down. Indignant, Kayla turned on the grunt and socked him straight in the face. For a fleeting moment, she recognized that she was being reckless, but she had to save the poor trainer somehow.

"You're an arrogant bully!" She snapped, standing over the grunt who had stumbled and fallen from the force of her strike. "And I don't appreciate people like you doing whatever they want."

Kayla focused her glare on the other grunt, who was merely standing to the side, not helping his partner. "And you! You're just as cowardly, not helping your partner fight!"

Because of Kayla's bravado and tough words, the harassed trainer started to find his courage to stand on his own two feet. "I don't know you, but thanks very much."

Kayla refused to acknowledge the beaten down trainer, but stared hard. "Grow a spine already."

A startled "Hey!" came from the Dragon Tamer, but Kayla ignored him. She noticed the Rowlet trainer wave Ara off.

"It's fine, dude. She's blunt, but she's an inspiration to us all. All trainers, everywhere."

But the grunts were stirring, growing outraged with the positive talk. The grunt who had stumbled and fallen was now back on his feet, with an arm outstretched.


	4. Chapter 4

"Kid, you're gonna pay for that dearly!"

Kayla gave him an "Oh really?" look and was slightly impressed that his stance never changed. His eyes, however, were another story. They widened in fear.

"Heh… I guess you're all talk and no bite." The girl challenged her opponent, staring directly into his orbs.

The grunt growled and pointed. "Gible, go! Teach this mouthy brat a lesson!" Finally liking the fact there was action, the other grunt wordlessly directed his Pokémon as well.

Both Dragon types surged forward, ready to beat down Rath, who Kayla had silently released. But suddenly, Ara was beside her, Wyvern present on the battlefield.

* * *

Much to Ara's astonishment, Wyvern didn't even hesitate for instructions, slamming against the closest Gible and knocking it to the ground before her trainer could even open his mouth. The little dragon growled, her scaled tail lashing as she faced her opponents.

Feeling a surge of confidence, Ara shouted: "Draco Meteor!"

He was embarrassed, but not at all surprised when his Pokémon completely ignored his command and charged at the Gible she had previously attacked with another Tackle. He could feel his face go red when one of the grunts snickered.

"Some trainer you are!" He laughed. "A Pokémon trainer who can't even control his Pokémon. You won't make it past the first-" Before he could finish, Wyvern sent his dazed Gible soaring through the air and he grunted as it slammed into his legs, almost knocking him over.

* * *

Kayla only had to order Rath once and the Litten was all over his foes: scratching, biting and burning them. Then, Balmung emerged from his ball and the fight intensified.

Kayla realized their partners were acting of their own accord because they wanted to prove themselves, but she wasn't sure if that was true in Wyvern's case. She watched Rath and Balmung go toe to toe with the two Gible, with occasional aid from Wyvern, realizing they were becoming stronger.

One of the grunts spoke, but she was so focused on the brawl, she didn't hear what he had said. However, she did catch Ara's gasp of shock and brought herself out of the zone to hear him mumble something about family.

Wyvern was still beating up the Gible, but Kayla's eyes widened when Ara fell to his knees. She turned, torn about asking what was wrong, but wisely said nothing in the end. Kayla knew it was hardly her place to ask such a question. It honestly felt wrong.

* * *

A wave of nausea washed over Ara. He barely registered the shock when his knees slammed into the ground. For a few moments, he was deaf to the sounds of battle until Wyvern trotted haughtily over to him, her nose in the air as she turned her back on her unconscious opponent. Without hesitation, she tapped on her Poké Ball and vanished in a flash of red light, determined to make it clear how little she enjoyed his company.

He heaved a sigh. Even if his Pokémon was somewhat willing to battle for him occasionally, he was far from making any real progress as a trainer.

As if he had read his mind, one of the Team Prime grunts laughed. "Wow, you really are pathetic." He smirked. "I can see why your family was so eager to get you out of the house; they probably couldn't stand to associate themselves with you any longer."

 _Ouch_. Ara did his best to blink tears from his eyes without revealing that he was crying. He failed miserably, which only seemed to entertain the defeated grunts even further.

"Hey!" Kayla shouted at the Team Prime grunts. "Shut it, or I'll really hurt you!" There was only so much bullying she could stand before she lost it. And while she and Ara hadn't had the best of starts, she felt it was her duty to defend him now when he was emotionally beaten down.

She made her way over to his side and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?" Kayla whispered to him. It took a few moments before he was able to respond, but he eventually glanced up at her and gave the faintest of smiles.

That was all she needed. Kayla tightened her grip momentarily, reassuring him she would support him, then she strode over to the grunts. "Now listen here, you filthy cowards! I'm sure your own parents would be ashamed of you at this very moment. So why don't you both go back to your boss and report that you've lost?!"

One of the grunts spoke in response to her comments.

* * *

"I don't follow the orders of some bratty nobody." He snarled, hands curling into fists. Ara's mouth went dry at the sight of the pure malice flickering in the grunt's eyes and he heard Wyvern give a low growl, her tail lashing in response to his aggression.

The other grunt's eyes widened and he grabbed his companion's arm to restrain him. "But your Pokémon-"

"I don't need a Pokémon to pummel the hell out of two little bastards." He interrupted, taking a step toward them and Ara flinched, scooting back a few feet.

The less enthused grunt winced. "I mean, they still have their own Pokémon." He feebly tugged at the fuming grunt's sleeve. "I'm sure the boss will forgive us, it's not like we screwed up anything important."

Ara was over the moon at the prospect of the two of them getting out of his sight. Unfortunately, he was too busy trying not to throw up in terror at that moment to feel anything other than the frantic pounding of his own heartbeat.

The angry grunt scowled and jerked his arm away from his companion. "Fine." He spat, jabbing a finger at Ara and Kayla. "But don't for one second think that I'm forgetting the two of you! Team Prime never forgets!"

The other grunt appeared to be so relieved that he didn't have to watch his friend get mauled by some amateurs' Pokémon that he didn't bother with a one-liner before ushering his partner and their defeated Pokémon away.

Ara let out a shaky breath, sweaty fingers digging into his legs as he did his best to smother his remaining feelings of panic. That was one encounter he could have lived without. One that he had a feeling would be burned into his memory for a long time. It was just his usual rotten luck that he'd come across Team Prime of all people on his first day as a trainer. Nonetheless, things could have ended up going disastrously if Kayla hadn't been there…

And speaking of the girl, she was still there. He found himself feeling surprised that she hadn't taken off the moment the battle had ended, but he supposed she didn't see him as enough of a threat to warrant her needing to avoid him. He found himself sighing at the thought. Imagine that. A member of the mighty Drago clan being viewed as an afterthought. His parents would have had some choice words of wisdom to give him. Something including the phrases 'major disappointment' and 'bring shame to us all'.

Still, Ara was several things, but ungrateful wasn't one of them. So despite his distaste for thieves, he found himself turning to Kayla. "Thanks." He said, voice still quivering from lingering fear. "You're not too bad, after all."

* * *

Kayla turned towards Ara, her bangs covering her eyes. "Those idiots..." She muttered under her breath. "You can say that all you want, we'll just kick you five ways to Sunday every. Single. Time."

Seeming to hear Ara's comment, she finally glanced up at her companion during the battle and exhaled heavily. "Are you okay? You look pretty shaken still. Do you need a hand getting up? I wasn't going to abandon you during that, despite what you may think of me. You may label me a thief as much as you want, but I'm actually a really decent person."

Kayla stuck out a hand after taking a few steps towards the boy, smiling. "Let's see if we can make this even. Why don't we get to know each other some more?"

* * *

Ara wiped his clammy hands on his trousers and let Kayla help him stand up. His rapid heartbeat was finally starting to slow down a little. "Thanks." He said again.

A few minutes ago, the idea of hanging out with a Pokémon thief would have been the last thing Ara would have considered. But it looked as if the girl wasn't completely heartless. After all, she had stopped to help the Rowlet's trainer and had stayed to fight Team Prime when it would have been easier for her to flee.

He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket. "I-I guess we can travel together." He agreed meekly before clearing his throat and hurriedly finding a more professional way to phrase it. "I mean: I appreciate your suggestion. We'd, um, fare better if we travelled in a group."

His face flushed; he must have sounded so pretentious.

* * *

Kayla laughed and poked her tongue out in jest. "You're a good kid," she admitted. "I think we'll get along okay. For now, we should head to the next town." She recalled her partners, promising to train them more before she went for the Badge.

The duo walked along in silence for a bit, the air still a little awkward between them. Finally, Kayla spoke up again. "What's it like being a Dragon Tamer? I've always admired them. I wanna train one myself, to be honest."

Kayla added her parents hadn't given her a partner before they sent her here, which explained why she'd had to steal one.

* * *

Ara took a moment to respond to her question. "It's nice, I suppose. I mean, I've been living around dragons my whole life, so I'm a little used to it. Since they're rare and often very powerful, dragons can be difficult to train." His hand brushed against Wyvern's Poké Ball. "And they're infamous for holding grudges."

Sometimes, a dragon never forgot. But, he realized, he didn't want to discourage anybody from training what they wanted.

"They're also loyal." He added hastily. "I mean, if you're a good trainer..." He faltered, fixing his eyes on the road ahead of them, suddenly eager to talk about literally anything else. "You said your parents never gave you a Pokémon?" The thought was unheard of to him, surrounded by family pets and battlers since he was born.

* * *

Kayla sighed, recalling her parents' unjust actions. "Yeah, no partner whatsoever. They just drove me to the airport, saying they'd paid for a ticket and bundled me on the plane. I wasn't given any time to protest or say I didn't want to come here. But, looking back at it, I'm glad I did come here, even if my parents' were pretty selfish about the whole ordeal."

She had gotten to begin her own journey, saved people and Pokémon alike and had made friends with a Dragon Tamer who had initially chased her because she stole a Pokémon. Kayla hoped her friendship with Ara continued to grow.

* * *

It was getting dark and, from what Ara could deduce from his lacklustre map-reading skills, they were still a long way from Kagawa City. Despite his thick jacket, he found himself shivering at the prospect of having to stay the night in the open. Even in the company of somebody he was beginning to believe he could trust, there were still wild Pokémon roaming about. Not to mention those Team Prime grunts…

He forced the thought of Team Prime out of his head as he squinted at the map Ryu had bought him. It was a crescent moon, so he could hardly see a thing beneath the canopy. Had they been going round in circles or was the forest just larger than he had initially thought?

Finally giving in to the fact that nobody would be sleeping in a warm bed that night, he folded the map and carefully placed it inside his bag so not to bend it. "Bad news, guys. I have no idea where we are."


	5. Chapter 5

Kayla was shivering herself; she had not had time to properly pack due to her parents' springing the decision on her out of the blue. She was also beginning to get a headache due to exhaustion.

The teen rolled her shoulders and casually cleared her throat. "I'm cold as well and have little food with me in my backpack. But it will have to do and we will have to sleep next to each other after that. Share body heat, so I've heard."

Kayla placed her backpack on the ground and began rummaging through it to bring out her old doona. "This will keep us somewhat warm."

* * *

The look of relief must have been evident on Ara's face. "Oh, thank goodness." The one thing he didn't bring was a sleeping bag. Though, Ryu had also insisted he bring a mat, despite Ara's insistence that he'd be able to find a bed on his journey. It was a good thing Ryu was so great at refusing to overestimate his brother; otherwise they would have had to sleep directly on the dirt.

Ara found himself flushing at the thought of him failing his journey as soon as it had started. Again. It was a good thing he had people like Ryu and Kayla to stop him from accidentally getting himself killed from exposure and forest-dwelling thugs.

At least he could get a fire started. He felt a little too proud after managing to coax a fire from a handful of twigs with his flint. The dancing orange flames lit their clearing up with a warm glow and he sat back, satisfied. If he couldn't find them shelter, he could at least try and keep the insects away.

He contemplated letting Wyvern out of her ball so she could sleep with the group, but ultimately decided not to. The last thing he wanted was for her to maul him in his sleep. Was that a normal thing to be afraid of? He looked to Kayla for confirmation. "Are you letting your Pokémon out?"

* * *

"Sure." She nodded and retrieved her partners' balls from her bag and let them out, explaining what was going on to them. "We're sleeping here for the night, as it's too cold to press on any further. Rath, will you take the first guard shift to make sure no wild Pokémon or Team Prime grunts gets us while we sleep? Balmung, you can take the second shift."

Both nodded eagerly at the statement, though Kayla noticed a sly smirk cross Rath's face as the Litten turned away.

"Rath, don't even think about it." Kayla reprimanded, causing Ara to look in her direction.

* * *

Ara glanced nervously at Rath. He considered letting Wyvern out, after all, to protect him in case the Litten tried to pull anything as he slept, but he wasn't certain if that would just make things worse.

Not feeling any better about his situation, he indicated toward Rath and asked: "He's not dangerous, is he?"

* * *

Looking over at Ara when he first spoke, then towards Rath when the boy mentioned her Litten, Kayla shook her head slowly. "I don't think he'll attack you. It was more that he wants to get back at me. I'm not going to let him just yet."

Kayla got some of the limited food out of her backpack as well and handed a sausage roll to Ara. "They're gourmet ones. Really tasty."

* * *

Feeling much better, Ara took the roll and wondered how something he'd heard his mother call 'disgusting fast food garbage' could be considered 'gourmet'. There was so much he had to learn about the world.

The crackling of the fire was able to drown out the creepy forest sounds that surrounded them. For the first time that day, Ara found that he actually felt secure. To a degree, that was. He was still hanging out with a stranger and his Pokémon hated him, but he no longer felt so alone. He drew the doona around his shoulders and wondered if Kayla felt the same way.

* * *

Kayla ate one she'd spared for herself, then settled under the doona beside Ara. It wasn't enough to keep her satisfied, but it would do until the morning when they would reach the next city.

Like Ara, she was insecure about her surroundings, but hated her parents more than anything for just dumping her and taking off. She wanted to grow as a person and find a way to go back to Hoenn, to show off her Pokémon to her parents, hope they would be proud of her.

Kayla sighed as she settled down and turned onto her side. "I'd imagine both of us are tired. Sleep in in the morning if you want, Ara. We're not in that much of a rush to get to the city." She paused and then continued. "Good night." Closing her eyes, she focused on clearing her mind, ready for sleep to claim her.

* * *

Ara was woken up the next morning by a cacophony of screeching bird Pokémon. He opened his eyes to find the sun shining directly into his face and groaned, squeezing them shut. When he moved to sit up, his muscles ached from when he'd rolled off the mat in his sleep and spent the night lying on the rocky ground.

 _At least things can only get better from here..._  He thought to himself. Careful not to wake Kayla or her Pokémon, he silently unzipped his bag and retrieved some cans of stew. Since she'd provided them with food last night, it only made sense that it was his turn that morning.

* * *

Kayla took a bit longer to wake, but groaned at the blinding light assaulting her senses even though her eyes were still shut. She waited a minute before opening them slowly, realizing that Rath and Balmung were already up and about.

As was Ara.

Kayla sat bolt upright, apologizing, as she started getting up.

"Don't be." Ara answered. "You did say we could sleep in."

"I know, but I also don't want to be the one slowing us down. I'm so sorry."

* * *

"There's no rush." Ara said, using a pair of sticks as makeshift tongs to lift the heated cans away from the fire. He poured the contents of one onto the ground before their Pokémon and did his best to divide it into three equal portions. After giving himself a moment to brace himself, he let Wyvern out. "There's enough to go around; please don't fight."

Wyvern scowled at him and shot a greedy look at the other Pokémons' food, but obeyed. Ara sighed in relief.

* * *

Kayla laughed as she watched the near miss unfold. She got up and rummaged through her backpack again, bringing out two bags of chips. "I know these especially aren't healthy, so I'm sorry. But it's all I have left now until we reach the city. We can have these for lunch."

The girl handed one bag to Ara and bowed, clearly apologizing once more. For a moment, she watched her two partners eat the previously tinned food, cracking a smile as Balmung got tetchy upon realizing he couldn't get at Rath's.

* * *

"Now that the sun's up, we can finally see where we're going." Ara said, unfolding his map and lying it on the ground before them. "It says here that there's a path that leads from Okimira Town directly to Kagawa City. We must have missed it yesterday with everything that happened. If we could find it today, we should be able to get back to civilization."

* * *

Kayla nodded, recalling her partners after they'd eaten. She wasn't a fan of stew, but didn't want to disappoint or insult Ara, so she ate the beef bits in it and left everything else.

The teen tried handing Ara the spare bag of chips she'd offered him before once more, hoping he would take them. Kayla kept her own packet handy as she was going to snack on them during the journey back to Kagawa City.

* * *

Ara had never liked the salty dry flavour of chips, but it felt rude to turn down a gift. He shoved the packet into his bag and busied himself with cleaning up his things. As he was packing his bag, his hand brushed against something cool and metallic. He pushed the items covering it to one side to reveal his can of repel.

Without thinking, he reached for the repel, but hesitated. Kayla and her Pokémon could help him deal with any wild Pokémon they came across; it was best he didn't waste his limited supply. He had somebody he could depend on now.

Wrenching his gaze from the repel, he pushed it to the bottom of his bag and zipped it shut. He looked around the site to make sure he hadn't left anything behind and turned to Kayla. "Are you ready?"

* * *

Meanwhile, back in Hoenn, Kayla's parents were sorting through the stuff they had made her leave behind when they'd bundled her into the taxi and dropped her off at the airport. The father wanted to get rid of everything, but the mother was hesitant to part with most of the items.

"She'll ring us one day, you know." The woman tried to convince her husband not to sell them.

He shrugged. "So what if she does? She's not here to claim them any more, so we should sell them!"

"Honey!" The woman, Bella, tried again. But she began looking despondent when she realized Johnny wasn't listening.

* * *

Kayla sighed, thinking briefly of home, before a chill ran down her spine. She frowned at the realization and then snarled sharply. "Those idiots better not sell any of my stuff! I'll kill them."

* * *

Ara laughed nervously. "Don't worry, I'm sure they won't do something like that!" Though going by the conviction in Kayla's voice, he couldn't bring himself to totally believe what he was saying. He hoped that nobody was looking through  _his_  stuff back at home. He wouldn't have put it past some of his family members to snoop when they had the chance.

* * *

Reigning in her temper, Kayla whirled on her travelling companion. "You don't know them like I do. My father, I definitely wouldn't put it past him. My mother is more a follower, but tries to speak up when she can." She paused and then continued. "Doesn't always work out for her, though… which is a pity."

* * *

Ara blinked, not completely sure how to respond. "Oh? That's..." Terrible? Rude? A complete breach of privacy and trust? "... Unfortunate." Damn it. He didn't mean to sound inconsiderate. "I-I mean..." He struggled to find a way to backpedal. "Tha-that's not right." Yeah, no kidding. Every word that came out of his mouth just made him feel more stupid. "I mean..."

The sight of a worn dirt path through the trees flooded him with relief.

"Oh, look. The road." Was it insensitive for him to try and change the topic? The subject of bad parenting made him uncomfortable.

* * *

Kayla chuckled, her fury obvious as her eyes burned with determination. Once she was in the Centre, she was calling her parents to make sure they didn't sell her stuff. Like hell was that going to happen.  _Over my dead body!_  The teen thought angrily.

Hearing Ara's comment seemed to snap her out of the rage that was building. "The road?" She mumbled, focusing on where Ara was pointing. "Oh good. Now things can get done."

* * *

Ara sighed, half relieved they were no longer lost and half proud he'd been able to smoothly steer the conversation away from uncomfortable topics. At least, as smooth as he could possibly make it.

They stepped onto the road, its dirt surface compacted by the generations of travellers that had walked it. If he'd known what the road ahead held in store for the two of them, he would have called his brother right then and there and begged from him to be taken back home. But neither he nor Kayla could have predicted the series of events that lay in their near future as they continued in ignorance along the path to Kagawa City.


	6. Chapter 6

Blindsiding them without warning was a real thief, made obvious by their ski hood and a dozen other Poké Balls on their belt that could not have been theirs. "Oooh, you two look nice and cozy. Mind if I steal your partners?" The thief, their voice identifying them as a male, spoke.

* * *

Ara leapt backward, heart thudding wildly as the man materialized in front of them.

"Ah- Whuh- Huh?" He almost tripped over his own feet and grabbed onto Kayla's arm to steady himself.

Who was that? Where did he come from? Was he armed? Was he going to hurt them? Did he have any fairies?

* * *

The man flicked out a knife that hadn't been there before and Kayla tensed, putting her body slightly in front of Ara's to defend him. But it was his next words that made her freeze and think. "Kayla, don't. You don't know what other weapons he has. I don't… w-want to watch you die."

Kayla turned and looked Ara in the eyes, before lowering her head, seemingly in thought. "… Okay." She finally answered.

* * *

The man's mouth split into a wide grin, revealing his yellowed teeth. A shudder passed down Ara's spine and he felt his palms grow slick with sweat. He forced himself to let go of Kayla's arm and stand on his own shaky legs. He watched, mesmerised by the morning light glinting across the blade. The image of it sinking into either his or Kayla's soft flesh spread through his mind like a bloodstain.

There had to be another way. Had there? They couldn't fight him. At least, Ara couldn't fight him, and he doubted Kayla would be able to hold her own against a real criminal. The man sure didn't look like the type to negotiate, either.

But Wyvern was of a rare species. Perhaps...

He didn't like it, but a naïve part of Ara's mind hoped that he might be able to bargain her in exchange for letting Kayla keep her own Pokémon. The moment he realized what he was thinking, he was flooded with disgust. How could he even consider sacrificing his own Pokémon to some creep? Even a thief like Kayla was virtuous enough that she wouldn't betray her team like that.

The man took a step toward them, twirling his knife in his gloved hands. "Are you just going to stand there? I don't have all day." His tone was light, but there was a menacing edge to his words.

Ara opened his mouth. "I-I-I..." He bit his lip hard, adrenaline drowning out the sharp sting. His gaze darted over to where Kayla stood between the two of them and he sucked in a shaky breath. "I'm n-not…"

* * *

Kayla thought for a split second and grabbed an empty ball. She may just be able to use it to dupe the man long enough for them to get away, but it was a high risk for both her and Ara. Because if the man figured out it was empty before they'd gotten too far, he could easily slice either one of them. Since, well, it looked like he was the type to be able to move fluidly and all.

* * *

It didn't seem possible, but the man's grin stretched even wider at the sight of the ball. He stopped twirling the knife and held it clenched in one fist, holding his other hand out expectantly.

Ara stared at Kayla, his own shaky hand drifting slightly toward where Wyvern's ball was clipped to his belt. The man was focusing on Kayla and her Poké Ball; he wouldn't expect an attack from Ara. Maybe Wyvern would realize how dire the situation was and knock the knife out of the man's hand. Maybe. Possibly. Who knew?

Mouth dry, he shot a pleading look at Kayla, hoping for any kind of direction before the man noticed him.

* * *

Seeing Ara looking at her out the corner of her eye, Kayla nodded imperceptibly so the boy could start moving off towards the city to get help. Kayla extended the empty ball in the man's direction, tensing herself to be able to escape. As if the man knew what she wanted to do, he flicked his knife out closer to her.

"Ah ah, none of that, pretty lady. You'll be staying right here while I check this ball."

* * *

Ara glanced down at Wyvern's ball and cast a panicked look at Kayla. He shuffled back a few steps and placed his Pokémon's ball into her hand. "Take care of her, okay?" He mumbled, though he wasn't certain who exactly he was addressing.

Taking a deep breath and bracing himself, he sprinted toward the man. The thief whirled to face him, expecting an attack. What the man didn't expect was for Ara to run on right past him.

There was too much adrenaline surging through him for him to notice the sharp stitch stabbing into his side. All he could think of was getting to Kagawa City and finding anyone or anything that could help.

* * *

 _Will do_ , Kayla thought, as she watched Ara run off. The redhead trusted her travelling companion to return with some form of help; whether it was an experienced trainer, one of the Jenny's and/or mages or a trainer's Pokémon, it didn't matter.  _Be safe_ , was her last thought before the man whirled on her.

"Ungrateful girl!" He yelled and hit her with a closed fist on the side of the head. He watched impassively as she crumpled, her scream cut short. Turning his attention to the ball in her hands, he took it from them and opened it, swearing when he realized it was a dud. "I oughta..." The man cussed under his breath once more, before glancing down at the girl's belt. "Hmm..."

* * *

The sight of the wheezing boy half running, half staggering through the gates of Kagawa City was enough to turn heads. Thank Arceus for that; by the time Ara stumbled into civilization, he was too out of breath to string a coherent sentence together.

Finding the police station was much harder when his vision was blurred and his legs felt as if they were about to give in. He flung the doors open, causing the shocked receptionist to look up as he teetered over to the front desk.

"In the forest..." He gasped, flinging his arm in the direction he'd came. "Robber man... Steal... Help my friend..." He clung onto the table to keep him steady. "Please…"

* * *

An officer glanced up at the panting boy. "Now, that is a problem. Let me get my canine and I'll follow you back." The officer rushed out the back and leashed his Houndoom, before hurrying back to where the boy was waiting with his partner following. "Lead the way."

Ara nodded, still winded from his run. Hoping he wasn't too late, he led the officer back the way he came, back through the dark forest path.

The officer, named Dan, turned and freed his Pokémon from the leash and gave the male canine a good, sharp pat on the shoulders. Houndoom took off instantly at the unspoken command, his pawsteps light but fast through the forest.

"Demon will find them in no time. He'll hold off the crook." Dan reassured the boy. "My name's Dan, by the way. You are…?" He glanced at the boy, waiting for him to introduce himself.

"Oh, I'm Arach. Arach Drago." Ara looked in the direction Demon disappeared. "Is your Pokémon going to be okay? I think the man is..." He hesitated. "Dangerous…"

"Ah, he'll be fine. He's an elite member of the K9 unit. We've fought dangerous criminals like this guy many times over." Dan was confident in his Pokémon's ability to survive. He didn't think there was anything to worry about. "And on the off chance he did get hurt, it's nothing a visit to the Pokémon Centre can't fix."

The policeman continued hurrying beside Arach and smiled widely when Houndoom howled from further in. "Great work, Demon." Turning to Arach, he added: "Means he's found him."

"Oh, thank goodness." Relief washed over Ara. If the man had been caught, it meant Kayla and their Pokémon were most likely still alright. His feelings of fear and guilt at the fact he'd left her alone with a creepy stranger were starting to ebb away as they drew closer to Demon.

Soon they came face to face with the criminal, Demon's teeth firmly in the guy's arm. The Houndoom's back was to Kayla, who was lying still on the ground. Ara gasped. "Please no..." Ara hurried over to her side. His stomach twisted at the smear of blood across her forehead. "K-Kayla!" A wave of nausea slammed against him. His fingers curled into fists, nails digging into his palms. "… Kayla?"

Dan had already knelt at the still girl's side. "It's okay, Arach. She's still alive. Just received a blow to the side of the head, by the looks of it." He reached over to guide the boy's hand open and feel the pulse in her neck. "Might need a hospital visit, though, to make sure she hasn't got concussion."

"R-right. She'll be fine." Ara murmured, speaking more to himself that Dan. He could feel Kayla's heartbeat thudding beneath his fingers and gave a shaky sigh in relief.

His eyes trailed to the thief who was wrestled to the ground by the snarling Houndoom, a stream of curse words tumbling from his mouth.

"What's going to happen to the Pokémon he's stolen?" Ara asked. "Will you be able to find all their trainers?"

"The Poké Balls will be taken for safekeeping to be returned to their rightful owners once the trainers can be located." Dan assured Ara as he stood up and fished a pair of handcuffs out of his pocket.

He walked over to the criminal and heaved up one of his arms, causing the man to cry out in pain as it had been the one Demon savaged. "Stuff it, you. I know you're only faking it. Right then. You're under arrest and have the right to remain silent. Anything you do say will be used against you."

Ara went to nudge Kayla awake, but he hesitated, unsure if it was safe to do so. He didn't know the first thing about first aid, so he had no clue if it was a good idea to try and wake up someone who'd been knocked out. He awkwardly hovered his hand over her face for a moment, unsure what to do, before dropping it to his side when he realized how weird he must have looked.

Dan took out his phone and called a number. Within a few minutes, a couple of paramedics and another police officer arrived. Someone handed him the ball containing his and Kayla's Pokémon. He stowed them in his bag and watched as the paramedics took her away, wishing he could do something to help.

Demon came back to his trainer at that moment, still caught up in the thrill of the takedown. Ara made to reach out to the Pokémon, Dan's eyes seeing the mistake at the last second. "Arach, no!" He called.

The Houndoom snarled suddenly and snapped his teeth in warning, causing Ara to pull his fingers back quickly. Dan pulled Arach back, his grip firm on his shoulders, and sighed. "Kiddo, that was too close. Don't ever do that after a K9 unit's finished a successful takedown. They're still in the thrill of it."

Dan checked his watch and frowned slightly, sighing. "I'm not exactly off duty yet, but I can take you up to the hospital if you wanted, Arach. It's completely your choice, though. I won't force you to do something you may not like."

While he waited for the boy's answer, the officer leashed Demon and told him to sit.

* * *

Later on, Kayla woke up and saw Dan standing guard beside her bed. "Hey, toughie." The policeman smiled, letting her know he could be trusted. "He took you out pretty quick, but it was a smart plan you had to try and deceive him."


	7. Chapter 7

"R-right." Ara muttered. He watched Demon return back to his ball and felt a pang of envy. If only he had a similar bond between himself and Wyvern. If only he could do something, anything to forge any semblance of trust from her.

* * *

 

Ara was dozing in the hospital's reception area when Dan stuck his head in. "She just woke up." He reported. "She's just fine; it doesn't look like she's sustained any heavy injuries."

 

Blinking tears of relief from his eyes, Ara stumbled on legs that had half fallen asleep into Kayla's room before bursting into uncontrollable sobs. "Y-y-you're a-alive!"

 

Kayla pushed herself up in the bed a little, so Ara could see more than just her head. She rubbed at her eyes, getting rid of some sleep and looked at the clock on the wall. _Oh, I didn’t realize it was that late…_ She thought, her eyes widening slightly.

 

Turning back to her visitor, Kayla nodded slowly. “I’m still here, Ara. You can’t get rid of me that easily.” She smiled after her comment, in order to reassure her travelling companion all was well.

 

“Take it easy for a day, okay kid?” Dan spoke. “Doctor’s orders. Nurse even agreed.”

 

Ara indicated toward the dressed wound on her head. "D-does it still hurt?" He asked. He shivered at the memory of her lying, bleeding in the dirt. It brought a wave of relief crashing over him at the sight of her sitting up in bed, her skin no longer that waxy pale colour.

 

Kayla nodded a little, wincing with teeth grit as a stab of pain shot through her head. “Y-Yeah. It does a little bit, but it’s not too bad.”

 

She reminded herself it could have been a lot worse, with her possibly in a coma or even dead. Then what would her parents say or how would they react? Would they have the heart to doubt themselves and what they did to her? The teen did wonder.

 

"I brought you this." Ara held out a sausage roll he'd bought earlier wrapped in a paper bag. "I've never been to a hospital before, but I hear the food's real bad."

 

Kayla accepted the food, placing it beside her. She nodded again, this time ignoring the pain that shot through her as she did so. “Thank you, Ara. I’ll be able to rejoin you tomorrow and we can plan how we’re going to train to beat the Gym Leader of this city.”

 

Ara perked up a little at the thought. Maybe a serious battle could be what would repair the relationship between him and Wyvern. "We can challenge the Gym together." He told her, not wanting to take up the challenge alone. "Um, what type do they specialize in? Rock?"

 

“That he does.” Dan cut in, wanting to explain to the two trainers since one was from another region and the other from another city further into the region. “His name is Kaneki. He trains an Onix and a Roggenrola. His Pokémon are weak, so you both should be able to beat him easily. He rarely does double battles, but he might for the two of you if you ask.”

 

“Sounds interesting...” Kayla trailed off, already in thought, planning which of her partners to use.

 

Wyvern didn’t have a weakness against Rock types, so she wouldn’t be at too much of a disadvantage. The biggest hurdle they had to get over was her disobedience. Ara just hoped that seeing some professionally-trained Pokémon would motivate her to step up her game. Maybe seeing Kayla’s Pokémon battle would prompt her to follow suit.

 

“I think our Pokémon can handle some Rock Pokémon.” Ara said, hoping he sounded more confident than he felt. “Wyvern’s defences should be strong enough and both of your Pokémon can inflict status conditions.”

 

Dan analyzed the plan for a moment, before giving a whistle of congratulations. “Pretty sound strategy you’ve got there, Ara. Hope it holds up when the fight starts.”

 

“I think it will.” Kayla cut in through bites of her sausage roll. “We’ll gain experience as we fight the trainers, right?” She double checked with Dan, who nodded. “Then we should be fine.” Pausing as she finished off her snack, Kayla turned to her travelling companion. “Do you think we’ll win, Ara?”

 

Torn between optimism and realism, Ara gave an uncertain shrug. "Probably." He flushed at how flat and uncertain his voice sounded. "I-I mean, sure we can! If we try really hard, I think. Most likely. Yeah! If we have a really good plan for the battle." He hesitated. "Should we have a plan? I mean, it's not like we can predict what our opponents are going to do…"

 

“Having a plan is a good strategy.” Dan gave them credit for that. “But sometimes even the best thought out plans go to waste when the opponent outmanoeuvres you. That’s why thinking on the fly is also good to do.”

 

Kayla grimaced. “I understand. Sorry.” She felt bad for trying to get Ara to agree to her plan now that she realized there was another way.

 

"I mean, I guess it won't hurt to have an idea of what we could do?" Ara suggested, catching sight of Kayla's expression. "Your Pokémon can deal some good damage and Wyvern... um, well, she can look strong so she'll get attacked before everyone else." He hoped Wyvern couldn't hear him referring to her as a meat shield from her ball.

 

Dan looked up at the clock, before turning to see Kayla yawn, a hand over her mouth. He sighed, a grin still on his face. “You’ve got the right idea. It is late. Get some rest for a day, then go do your Gym battle.” Looking over at Ara, he added: “Want me to drop you at the Centre, so you can get a room? You look beat yourself.”

 

Ara nodded gratefully. "Th-that would be nice, thank you."

 

Dan stood. "Good luck on your Gym battle tomorrow." His voice was warm. "Working together, the two of you can achieve great things. Take it easy, okay?"

 

Getting up to follow Dan out, Ara shot Kayla a nervous smile. "We'll do just fine." He said. He didn't expect his own words to reassure him that much. But hearing them aloud and knowing that he had a friend by his side gave him a sense of hope. Like things really were going to work out after all.

 

The next day, in the afternoon, Kayla had finally been released from hospital. She was currently standing on the training field behind the Pokémon Centre with Ara. Her partners had been training intensely for hours, only stopping to eat, drink and be healed by Nurse Joy. Both Rath and Balmung were close to evolving into their next forms; Kayla suspected the evolutions would occur after the Gym battle on the next route, perhaps.

 

Ara was impressed at how quickly Rath and Balmung were maturing; they seemed to make a great team. Even Wyvern was warming up to them. He just wished she'd give him a chance, too. She seemed to be willing to follow his commands to a degree after their training, which was far better than nothing, though.

 

“I think we’re both doing great, Ara.” Kayla commented, observing how her Litten and male Nidoran were a bit bigger than they had been before. A sure sign evolution was close for them. She smiled at her travelling companion and recalled the training Wyvern had done. If she was honest with herself, Kayla was also proud of how far the little dragon had come.

 

Wyvern trotted over to Kayla to nuzzle her leg. She nosed at her hand, hoping to find food.

 

The girl laughed softly and grabbed some Pokémon food from her bag, before kneeling down to Wyvern’s level. She offered the food to the Dragon type, waiting for her to eat it. While she waited, Kayla spoke to Ara.

 

“I’m not sure what happened that made Wyvern distrustful of you, but I think it’s a good thing you’re earning her trust back. I won’t ask if you don’t feel like talking about it.”

 

Ara hesitated, his gaze lingering on Wyvern. He wasn't certain how comfortable he felt sharing the story with another person, but there was no harm in telling Kayla now. Besides, he trusted her. She had every right to know.

 

Still unable to look her in the eye, he started. "I was given Wyvern half a year ago. My family's got a long history of training dragons, so whenever a child from the Drago clan turns thirteen, they receive a Dragon type starter. And, well, you know, I got Wyvern..."

 

He paused, feeling his heartbeat speeding up. There was no point beating around the bush, so he cut to the chase. "W-Wyvern was never easy to train, b-but a week after we met - just when she started warming up to me - w-w-we..." He drew a deep breath, trying to control his stutter. "I was trying to train her in the woods near the estate, but there was a Granbull. I d-don't know how it got there, but we were no match. I had no idea how ruthless those things can be." He kicked at the ground in front of him. "Y-yeah, so she hasn't been too fond of me since…"

 

There was silence after Ara finished speaking, as Kayla considered his words. After what seemed like minutes, but was just a few moments, she spoke. “I can’t imagine how that must of felt, being attacked by a Fairy type and your first Pokémon losing their trust of you.” The girl gestured with her head for Ara to come closer, since she was still feeding Wyvern.

 

Ara hung back for a moment, eyes fixed suspiciously on Wyvern, who was licking Kayla's hand of any remaining morsels of food. He didn't trust Wyvern, but he trusted Kayla. Drawing a deep breath, he shuffled toward them.

 

Kayla patted the small Dragon type on her head. “Good girl.” She praised Wyvern, slowly inching back and taking her hand away from the Pokémon’s mouth. To further encourage good behaviour, Kayla showed the Jangmo-o she still had food but wouldn’t be giving any more until the incident between Dragon type and trainer was sorted out.

 

Ara's eyes flickered from Wyvern to Kayla. "What are you planning on doing?" He hissed, hoping Wyvern couldn't hear him. He'd learned from experience how sharp her little teeth could be and he didn't fancy getting bitten.

 

“I’m testing a theory. Don’t worry, I won’t use you as the guinea pig.” Kayla reassured her travelling companion. Looking back at Wyvern, she got the Dragon type to focus on her fully. “Okay, there’s two scenarios, girl. One is a random passerby, friendly, loves Pokémon. They see you and want to pat you because they’re particularly interested in Dragon types. How would you react?”

 

Wyvern tipped her head to one side, considering Kayla's words. She then sidled over to her and rubbed her scaly head against Kayla's leg.

 

An amused noise came from Kayla’s mouth as she patted the Dragon on her head. She smiled and continued, kind of having expected that response. “That’s a pass. Scenario two: Ara and I are sleeping on a route at night. You team up with my Pokémon to take the night watch. A criminal comes bumbling along, maybe on the run from some wild Pokémon. How would you defend both of us?”

 

A little grin crossed Wyvern's mouth and she snapped her pointy teeth, a little too eagerly.

 

Ara let out a squeak and ducked behind Kayla, unwilling to take any chances with his Pokémon. "L-looks like we're pretty safe..." He mumbled, peeking out from behind Kayla at his Pokémon.

 

“It’s okay.” Kayla attempted to calm Ara, placing a hand on his shoulder. “One final question. This is outside of the scenarios. Are you willing to give Ara another chance?”

 

Wyvern froze. Her narrow-eyed glare zeroed in Ara and it took all of his self-control not to shrink away. The little dragon screwed up her nose, uncertain how to respond to Kayla's question.

 

"Well, I guess it's better than a 'no'." Ara said weakly.

**Author's Note:**

> Challenges: Epic Masterclass (crossover) #6 and Epic Big Bang (Pokémon).


End file.
